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Pacific Overtures
Pacific Overtures is a stage musical telling the story of the Westernization of Japan. Cast *Mako — Reciter/Shogun/Various Roles *Soon-Tek Oh — Tamate/Various Roles *Isao Sato — Kayama *Sab Shimono - Manjiro *James Dybas - French Admiral/Old Man/Second Councillor *Haruki Fujimoto - Commodore Matthew Perry/Servant *Ernest Harada - Physician/Madame/British Admiral *Alvin Ing — Shogun's Mother/American Admiral/Various Roles *Patrick Kinser-Lau — Shogun's Companion/Girl/Dutch Admiral/British Sailor *Yuki Shimoda - Abe/First Councillor *Jae Woo Lee — Fisherman/Sumo Wrestler/Lord of the South *Freda Foh Shen - Shogun's Wife *Mark Hsu Syers - Thief/Soothsayer/Russian Admiral/British Sailor/Various Roles *Gedde Watanabe - Priest/Girl/The Boy Plot Conceived as a sort of Japanese playwright's version of an American musical about American influences on Japan, Pacific Overtures begins its journey to the present day in July 1853. Since the foreigners were driven from the island empire, explains the Reciter, there has been nothing to threaten the changeless cycle of their days. Elsewhere, wars are fought and machines are rumbling but in Nippon they plant rice, exchange bows and enjoy peace and serenity. ("The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea") But President Millard Fillmore, determined to open up trade with Japan, has sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry across the Pacific. To the consternation of Lord Abe and the Shogun's other Councillors, the stirrings of trouble begin with the appearance of Manjiro, a fisherman who was lost at sea and rescued by Americans. He returns to Japan and attempts to warn Abe of the presence of warships in the waters around Okinawa, but is instead arrested for consorting with foreigners. A minor samurai, Kayama, is appointed Prefect of the Police at Uraga to drive the Americans away - news which leaves Tamate, his wife, grief-stricken since it will result in certain failure and shame. As he leaves, she expresses her feelings in dance as two Observers describe the scene and reveal her thoughts ("There Is No Other Way"). As a Fisherman, a Thief, and other locals relate the sight of the "Four Black Dragons" roaring through the sea, an extravagant Oriental caricature of the USS Powhatan pulls into harbor. Kayama is sent to meet with the Americans but he is rejected as not important enough. He enlists the aid of Manjiro, the only man in Japan who has dealt with Americans, and disguised as a great lord, Manjiro gets an answer from them: Commodore Perry announces that he must meet the Shogun within six days or else he will shell the city. Faced with this ultimatum, the Shogun refuses to commit himself to an answer and takes to his bed. Exasperated by his indecision, his Mother, with elaborate courtesy, poisons him. ("Chrysanthemum Tea"). With the Shogun dead, Kayama devises a plan by which the Americans, thanks to a covering of tatami mats and a raised Treaty House, can be received without having, technically, to set foot on Japanese soil. He and Manjiro set off for Uraga, forging a bond of friendship through the exchange of "Poems". Kayama has saved Japan, but it is too late to save Tamate. He returns home to find her dead from seppuku. Already events are moving beyond the control of the old order: the two men pass a Madam instructing her inexperienced Oiran girls in the art of seduction as they prepare for the arrival of the foreign devils ("Welcome to Kanagawa"). Commodore Perry and his men come ashore and, on their "March to the Treaty House", demonstrate their goodwill by offering such gifts as two bags of Irish potatoes and a copy of Owen's "Geology of Minnesota". The negotiations themselves are seen through the memory of three who were there: a warrior who could hear the debates but not see it from his hiding place under the floor of the house, a young boy who could see the action but not hear it from his perch in the tree outside, and the boy as an old man recalling that without "Someone In a Tree", a silent watcher, history may have been incomplete. Initially, it seems as if Kayama has won: the Americans depart in peace. But then the barbarian figure of Commodore Perry leaps out to perform a traditional Kabuki "Lion Dance", which ends as a strutting, triumphalist, all-American cakewalk. Act II The child emperor (portrayed by a puppet manipulated by his advisors) reacts with pleasure to the departure of the Americans, promoting Lord Abe to Shogun, Kayama to Governor of Uraga and Manjiro to the rank of Samurai. The crisis appears to have passed, but to the surprise of Lord Abe the Americans return to request formal trading arrangements. To the tune of a Sousa march, they bid Japan "Please Hello" and are followed by a Gilbertian British Admiral, a clog-dancing Dutch Admiral, a gloomy Russian and a dandified Frenchman all vying for access to Japan's markets. With this new western threat, the faction of the Lords of the South grow restless. They send a politically charged gift to the Emperor, a storyteller who tells a vivid, allegorical tale of a brave young emperor who frees himself from his cowardly Shogun. Fifteen years pass as Kayama and Manjiro dress themselves for tea. As Manjiro continues to dress with painstaking slowness into ceremonial robes for the tea ritual, Kayama slowly adopts the manners and dress of the newcomers, proudly displaying his new pocket watch, cutaway coat and "A Bowler Hat". But there are other less pleasant changes prompted by westernization. Three British Sailors mistake the daughter of a samurai for a geisha ("Pretty Lady"). Though their approach is initially gentle, they grow more persistent to the point where they offer her money (with insinuations of rape); the girl cries for help and her father kills one of the confused Tars. Reporting on the situation to the Shogun, Kayama witnesses Lord Abe's murder by cloaked assassins and himself is killed by one of their number - his former friend, Manjiro. In the ensuing turmoil the puppet Emperor seizes real power and vows that Japan will modernize itself. As the country moves from one innovation to the "Next!", the Imperial robes are removed layer by layer to show the Reciter in T-shirt and black trousers. Contemporary Japan - the world of Toyota and Seiko, air pollution and market domination -assembles itself around him. "There was a time when foreigners were not welcome here. But that was long ago..." he says, "Welcome to Japan." Musical numbers ;Act I *"The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea" — Reciter and Company *"There Is No Other Way" — Tamate and Observers *"Four Black Dragons" — Fisherman, Thief, Reciter and Townspeople *"Chrysanthemum Tea" — Shogun, Shogun's Mother, Shogun's Wife, Soothsayer, Priests, Shogun's Companion, Physician and Sumo Wrestlers *"Poems" — Kayama and Manjiro *"Welcome to Kanagawa" — Madame and Girls *"Someone in a Tree" — Old Man, Reciter, Boy and Warrior *"Lion Dance" — Commodore Perry ;Act II *"Please Hello" — Abe, Reciter, American, British, Dutch, Russian and French Admirals *"A Bowler Hat" — Kayama *"Pretty Lady" — Three British Sailors *"Next" — Reciter and Company Category:Stage musicals